Tripped Up
"Tripped Up" is the fifth episode in Season 1 of The Light and Dark Series and runs for approximately 8 - 10 minutes in length. Synopsis Ripple the Woodsprite is noteably the prank master - they don't call him "Ripple the Remarkable" for nothing! His title is challenged by a female calling herself Karma, but being the cunning individual he is, he dodges each bullet, so to speak, with ease. Even her signature "Gotcha Gag" fails to knock him off his pedestal; as time passes and pranks are exchanged one-sidedly, he develops a certain fondness that he's never felt before. Could this girl be winning his heart? Will she ever prank him or will he remain "Remarkable?" Story It begins with the infamous Ripple on the run from a merchant in the woods who has just fallen for one of his pranks; he hops into a bush and disappears from sight, losing his pursuer easily. He laughs as he watches the human wander away in frustration and is on his way again when the coast is clear. Not ten minutes goes by before he comes face to face with a fellow Woodsprite: a female to be specific. She introduces herself as Karma, and he proudly says he is "Ripple the Remarkable," so she proposes the idea that she's the better prankster of them which comes as no surprise to him. She supposedly leaves on the note that she'll get him - minutes later she attempts her signature "Gotcha Gag." Before she has a chance to complete it, however, she is startled by the sound of a roaring bear and runs into a shrub to hide. Then she hears a familiar laugh and realizes that she has been usurped. He tells her she'll have to do much better to prank him, so she sets off, refusing to give up: "I'll get you somehow, you just wait," she cries confidently. He continues along the dirt path, stating aloud that he doesn't believe her when he's alone. Then a transition screen shows a lapse in time where she continually tries to trip him up, the plan backfires, he gets a laugh out of it, and she comes up with a new idea, thus creating a cycle. Then the episode resumes in normal time with Ripple strolling through a flower patch in the afternoon where he spots a closed Buttercup and picks it, thinking fondly of Karma for a moment. He remembers it being her favorite flower and smiles. Recognizing the feeling accompanying the thought, he briskly leaves the patch in search of a pond. With any luck, he thinks aloud, some water will snap him out of it - a solo prank master is who he is and a female would only get in the way of that. Along the way, he stops to let a mother duck and her ducklings cross the path he's on - then he spots Karma sitting at the edge of a pond abundant with fish and water plants. He takes a few steps forward, stumbles, falls, and hears her laugh abruptly; he looks back and sees - to his dismay - a rope. Instantly he realizes he has just fallen for her "Gotcha Gag" and proven his own prediction right. As he stands up and brushes off the dirt from his clothes she laughs at him, saying, "I told you I'd get you!" Then he approaches the edge where Karma is sitting and pushes her into the pond as payback. She sits up and looks at him rather angrily while the water drips off the tips of her hat and rolls her eyes when he laughs. He takes a few steps back when she gets back on dry land - she wrings out her clothes and hat before offering her hand, meaning to congratulate him for that move. He is suspicious at first, but shakes her hand; suddenly she pulls him around and lands him in the pond. His quick reaction prevents him for letting go of her, so she comes in with him. Then they can't help but laugh at one another for thinking the same thought. Another transition scene represents time has passed, and this time it starts with Karma sitting at the base of a tree with her hat over her face. She is awoken from her afternoon nap when Ripple approaches her and comes right out with a bouquet of flowers dispersing from his hat, admitting that he has developed a certain fondness for her. At first she doesn't seem to comprehend the phrase and tells him she will "get back on that one later" before teleporting away with the flowers, leaving him confused. For several days he sees no sign of her anywhere. This troubles him - he wonders if she has truly left or if she may even remotely like him back as he explains to a gopher. Then he is taken by surprise when she tackles him to the ground and happily announces that she loves him; at first he questions the sincerity of her words. He pushes her off of him so he can sit up, and then she leans in, giving him a very simple - yet meaningful - first kiss. It triggers an emotional response he's never felt before: love. Immediately he is hers and vice versa. The episode concludes with them walking away hand-in-hand, and Ripple admits that he always thought being in love was a bad thing. Karma asks him why, so he says he thought a female wouldn't like him being a prankster. She snickers and simply says, "I like the funny ones," and then the ending music plays while the screen goes black. Trivia *This was originally episode six of Season 10 of the Expanded Animated Universe. After the separation of the LD Stories, it was moved to its current position. *Ripple is with the Smurfs during one of Karma's pranks, but none of them have speaking roles; they only laugh when he does. *Tulip also makes a premature silent cameo as one of the victims of Karma's pranks. *This is the shortest episode written to date by Numbuh 404. Expansion will be eminent sometime in the future. Continuation *'Episode 4' -- "Rising Flames" *'Episode 6' -- "Peewit's Smurfy Creation" Category:Numbuh 404's Articles Category:LD Stories episodes Category:LD Season 1 episodes